The Players Tour Championship was a series of snooker tournaments comprising some minor-ranking events played in Europe, and an Asian leg comprising some minor-ranking events in Asia. The series concluded with a Grand Final, where qualification was based on performance in the other PTC events, and had the status of a full ranking tournament. Each regular event lasted for at least three days, with qualifying days for amateurs should the event be oversubscribed. Each event costs £100 to enter, and Main Tour players can gain ranking points in the events. History The inaugural series ran from late June, with six events at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, one in Gloucester and another five in mainland Europe (with 3 in Germany). The finals took place in March featuring the best 24 players who had won the most money and played at least 6 events; 3 in Sheffield and 3 in mainland Europe. The prize money at each event was £50,000 or €50,000 at the regular events, with a total of £200,000 available in the Finals. The first event was held in the World Snooker Academy from 25 to 27 June 2010. In the first season the six events at the Academy were sponsored by Star Xing Pai. The prize money for the Finals was increased to £250,000 in 2011/2012. Originally the events played outside Sheffield were called Euro Players Tour Championship, but this distinction was abandoned for the second season. In the 2012/2013 season the Players Tour Championship was expanded. The PTCs would no longer take place at the World Snooker Academy and instead were played at the South West Snooker Academy. In addition there was a decrease of PTCs being played in England, reduced to four events, with three new PTCs being created in Asia, called Asian Players Tour Championship. From this season the European events formed the European Tour, their prize money was increased to €70,000, and they were sponsored by Betfair. Finally as a result the Finals was expanded to accommodate 32 players instead of 24; with each tournament winner from the APTCs and the next top 4 players on the Asian Order of Merit qualifying; with an additional player qualifying from the UK/European Order of Merit. The seedings of the final were based on the combined list of both Order of Merits. The prize money of the Finals was also increased to £300,000, excluding the £1,000